Avoidance at a Cost
by Frosty Mint
Summary: For Naruto life was simple, eat Ramen, train and become Hokage, that was until he had to suffer decreased Chakra levels, Sasuke stalking him, and falling in love with the one person he shouldn't; Itachi. ItaNaru with one sided SasuNaru. Canon universe, AT
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: Neither xXxFrostyIceCubexXx nor Imperial Mint own the Animé/Manga series 'Naruto'

**Title**: Avoidance at a cost

**Pairing:** (Primary) ItaNaru (Secondry/One sided) SasuNaru

**Notice: **This is Yaoi, and will most definitely contain adult situations and some things that others may not be fond of, so please be forewarned before reading this story. Character death(Sakura) in prologue. Also this will be you dislike/are against it... don't read.

**Summary:** For Naruto life was simple, eat Ramen, train and become Hokage, that was until he had to suffer decreased Chakra levels, Sasuke stalking him, and falling in love with the one person he shouldn't; Itachi.

This a collaboration fiction between xXxFrostyIceCubexXx and Imperial Mint

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Prologue

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Days had passed slowly since Naruto had given up on his once action filled life style, no longer did he see the need to chase a boy who was too busy obsessing over his older brother as a high priority. He had better things do, Ramen still called out to him, missions still needed completing and that dream of becoming Hokage that he once had – well, he still had it.

Sure, should a clue for the young Uchiha present itself would he chase up on it but, until such a time appeared, he was just happy completing missions and getting stronger.

Unfortunately for him, there was a problem that day regarding missions. He had one. Now normally that wouldn't be an issue, normally he would love a mission. Only, that day it was his birthday and as forewarned by the Kyuubi during one of Naruto's little mood swings a while back; Naruto lacked Chakra.

While his Chakra merged with the dying Kyuubi. A death caused by the side effects of the Yondaime's seal. Naruto was forced to live on only the bare minimal. Luckily it was only for that day; his eighteenth birthday. Unluckily he had a mission that day.

After a week of lacking missions, he had to be given a mission that day, not only that, but Tsunade knew of his predicament, yet still she gave him one. It was irritating. Of course he knew why she did it; pressured by his superiors. Those damn ANBU bastards. Never did they miss a chance to put Naruto in some form of dangerous situation.

But as luck would have it, Tsunade was the one who chose the mission and so, with Sai and Sakura as his team mates, bringing Team Kakashi back, minus the teacher of course. He was to go on a mission quite happily. Mind the fact that the conversation was a fairly unpleasant one when he first found out

Ah yes, Naruto did remember that conversation well.

It had been earlier that morning in fact. He had been on his way to Ichiraku's when Sai himself had appeared and requested his presence along with him and Sakura at the Hokage's office. Reluctant to leave without breakfast, he found the young daughter of the Ramen stall owner holding out a bowl for him.

He was late for the meeting as was Sai that day.

Entering the building was quite the chore itself, avoiding people bustling about while he ate his food. Sai hadn't a readable look on his face, so Naruto just ignored him. The other couldn't have disapproved otherwise he would have went ahead. Finally they found themselves outside of Tsunade office. The door already open and inviting them in.

Sakura and Tsunade stood there staring, sweat dropping. Of course the reason for Naruto's lateness that morning was Ramen. Inwardly Naruto chuckled as he remembered the five minute telling off he got for it.

Once they were all settled down and ready, Tsunade had begun the topic of the meeting. Naruto's jaw had dropped the moment the word mission had crossed the lady's mouth, boy did Naruto remember that bit clearly,

"Baa Chan! Are you kidding me?" Naruto had exclaimed. A tone of anger and annoyance echoed from his voice. Tsunade looked ashamed and Naruto felt that she should of,

"Sorry Naruto but you, Sakura and Sai are to go to Tsukigakure and retrieve the Kuro scroll from the village leader, it's a low ranked mission, a cat could do it," She answered hesitantly,

"Then send a bloody cat! Don't send me, you know what my condition is!" He shouted back, neither Sai nor Sakura spoke. It was possible that both feared Naruto's voice. When the boy had Chakra they could be as abusive as possible, but when he was lacking it, he was nothing more than a common civilian.

"Seriously Naruto, please your superiors have said that it must be you, Sai Sakura. They have no others to spare," Tsunade continued. Naruto huffed at her before muttering under his breathe 'Yeah, that and they are all against me," Tsunade seemed to have heard him because he soon felt a smack to the head,

"Watch it brat, I was allowed to choose the mission and I could have chosen one that would have got the village a lot more money, you know we need it," She scowled at him. He smirked,

"And whose fault is that? You and Sakura are just a bunch of gamblers!" His words earned him two smacks in the head. Sakura had snapped out of her silence and joined her personal teacher in 'teaching' Naruto a lesson about rudeness. Sai, being the sensible one just stood there in silence.

Minutes passed of Naruto cursing both Sakura and Tsunade, while the pair went into more detail about the mission with one another, Naruto's wishes not to go: ignored.

"-and so Sakura, make sure you see the leader first, he's quite the pervert at time, but nothing like Jiraiya so you have nothing to worry about, these two on the other hand might," Sakura's eyes widened,

"What he's gay?" Tsunade laughed, loudly.

"No Sakura, but a beautiful girl like you might get swept away by him and leave these two without their favourite little team mate," Sakura turned crimson. How in three years of growing up since Sakura started under Tsunade's tutelage did Sakura become a teacher's pet, Naruto would never know.,

"Okay Baa Chan, Sakura Chan, we really need to get going. Don't we Sai." Naruto ground out indicating the door. Sai shrugged and looked from instructions from Tsunade. Naruto dead panned. God hated him. "Seriously guys let's go and get this over with! I don't see why we can't- Ouch Sakura!" Naruto whined.

Sakura had just hit him once more,

"No moaning Naruto we must leave today to make in time,"

"In time?" Naruto questioned, still nursing his throbbing head.

"You should have listened" She answered. He scowled.

- - -

Normal Shinobi could have completed the journey that took roughly three hours in approximately under one hour. As it was, Sai, Sakura and Naruto were no normal Shinobi... at least Naruto was. Due to his Chakra being squandered, they were stuck with walking on foot rather than taking to the trees.

But as Naruto was also the most surprising Ninja within Konoha (he still proudly held that title, even after Konohamaru had challenged him upon it) he had made a challenge out of it. He could still run and that was what he did, constantly calling back to Sakura and Sai that they would be specks of dust in no time.

The journey would have been shorter still if Naruto hadn't insisted upon devouring practically all of his ramen rations. Sakura had been kind enough to extend her knowledge of medical Nin Jutsu to the ramen cause, using one heat Jutsu that was commonly used upon pneumonia patients.

"You know, Sakura-chan, you're like a portable oven."

And that had been the comment that left the purplish bruise upon Naruto's cheek. Apparently it wasn't acceptable to say that to a young woman, or so Naruto gathered from her rants after the pain. Naruto had looked over to Sai in a desperate plea yet the man had merely looked back at him and mouthed 'good luck' before sitting down upon a nearby rock.

After Sakura had finally finished, the group had set off once more and completed the journey to Tsukigakure. Although it wasn't specifically a Shinobi village, the town was run by the Tsuki clan, a small group of efficient yet elderly Shinobi, hence the name.

The village was, simply put, beautiful. Each had silver embellishments upon their doors that would, no doubt, glint once the moonlight hit them. It was small and intricate details such as these that Naruto loved and made him ever more curious of the village and who exactly ran it.

It was a short walk through the town to lead them to where the leader was based and he welcomed them with loud words and open arms. He commented on Sakura a few times with special praises and the Kunoichi blushed deeply whilst thanking their employer.

"There is a hotel a little way down this road, they should be expecting you and I hope that that is not too presumptuous for me to have done that."

Naruto and Sai both shook their heads while Sakura looked around the room.

"Unless the pretty lady would like to stay here... that offer's on the table."

The room grew silent as the Shinobi looked at the leader and then to Sakura's mortified expression. The man took it in and a huge grin split onto his face, "I was only joking miss, now I really do think you should get some rest. You can get the Kuro scroll tomorrow as you must be tired from travelling."

The trio inclined their heads respectfully and smiled. They were led to the adjacent hotel and, like many other buildings, Naruto marvelled at the beautiful silver embellishments upon both the hotel and its furniture. It gave the whole place a sense of surrealism and Naruto decided that he could grow to like this place.

- - -

The village leader watched the trio leave, unknown to them, he watched them with a heavy heart. Not once did he regret what he had done, he had the motivation to allow what had just happened to happen.

Should he be required to wage war on Konoha, despite knowing he would most definitely lose, then he would. Admittedly he felt bad but he didn't regret it. He was a family man, and with his wife already lost to illness, he would rather let hell rain down about him before allowing his daughter to join his deceased wife.

He, a trusted village leader, had deceived the young Konoha shinobi all because of his daughter, his precious daughter. The daughter who was currently being held hostage by the man who had expected, no planned the arrival of the young Konoha shinobi.

Uchiha Sasuke.

The opening of a door told the village leader that that man had just returned. Though the leader had a sneaking suspicion that he had followed the Konoha trio there.

Soft footsteps could be heard closing in on him. They frightened him so. He never knew he'd feel so much fear from a man, and a young man at that.

The sound stopped.

"Nice to see you again," His voice was smooth. Manipulative almost. It sent shivers down his spine, never in his life had he heard someone so... so mysterious. So this was Orochimaru's murderer.

Impressively scary.

"Goo-Good to see you again as well Sas-"

"Remember your place,"

"-Uchiha sama," There was a pregnant pause between the two, almost as if they were waiting for the other to say something. Sasuke awaiting the man's pitiful begging for his daughter back, and the leader awaiting Sasuke's news about his daughter. Neither spoke, and the minutes continued to pass. The leader couldn't stand it any more,

"Please Uchiha sama, my daughter!" He begged, a smirk fell upon Sasuke's lips. A Horrible smirk,

"Your daughter is fine, I shall have her returned to you as soon as I have what I came for," He replied. Seeing no reason to stay any longer he made his way towards the exit, "Oh yes and remember, they find out about me, you'll never find out about your daughter,"

The many nodded fearfully. He couldn't allow his dear, dear daughter to get hurt. He'd lock those three Konoha shinobi in a metal clad room if he had to. Never, and let it be repeated, he would never allow any harm to befall his precious, precious daughter.

"Don't worry Uchiha Sama, I promise to keep my end of the bargain, and long as you promise to return my daughter, my precious little princess," Sasuke smirked, he loved it when his victims were suck ups.

He loved the feeling of control. It was exhilaratingly thrilling. He was happy, everything was going his way. Now just to get that one thing, or rather that one person he had plotted this entire scheme just to get.

- - -

Naruto couldn't believe it; he usually had brilliant luck and karma chose today to knock on his door and demand it back. Strip poker was a deadly a game as Russian roulette, especially when you had one black haired male constantly making jibes and a giggly team member edging said male on.

All in all, Naruto was not most pleased.

In fact it was Sakura who was still fully clothed which Naruto really didn't deem fair; after all she had been the one to train under the Legendary sucker so why wasn't she bad at this? Maybe she had learnt how _not _to do it from Tsunade, Naruto mused as he was ordered to take his left sock off. Unfortunately he was now down to one sock and a pair of boxers whilst Sai had lost his gloves and a pathetic excuse for a T-shirt.

"One more loss, Naruto-Kun, and I can finally prove to Sakura that you have no penis."

Naruto bit back his anger; he was a calm, collected member of Konohagakure's elites not some brawlish Genin. He could contain his anger with simple breathing, in deeply, out deeply in-

" Because we all know he can't have one there or we'd be able to see _something _in those pants."

Calm and collectiveness thrown out the window, Naruto snarled and practically lunged over the table towards Sai. He was unable to land a hit on the amused face, however, due to one fully clothed member of his team pushing him back to his seat.

"So Kami help me Naruto, if you don't finish this game – which, I hasten to remind you, was your idea – then you really won't have a penis and Konoha's hospital will be registering 'Uzumaki Naruto' in for a gender reassignment operation."

Naruto blanched and sat back down, looking at his cards in fear. Sai too looked somewhat disturbed as Sakura's evil grin turned to him and she simply said,

"Play on."

Naruto and Sai continued the game in wariness while Sakura grinned to herself and settled comfortable in her seat, every now and again reaching her hand into the snacks bowl and drawing out a handful of crisps.

With a sigh, Sakura stood up and smiled apologetically to the males. Naruto remained stoic, concentrating on his hand and merely nodded, eyes flickering slightly as she chuckled at his fear. It was obvious that Sakura needed to relieve herself of bodily fluids and this was something that the men never approached with Sakura. Although she was strong, she was still definitely a woman and there was a strict line that you couldn't cross with her.

As usual they paid no further attention to the woman as she walked out the room yet both offered a small smile. Sakura waved her hand in return and Naruto couldn't help, but frown at how final the click of the door sounded.

- - -

Sakura sighed as she felt the door shut behind her. An ominous feeling overwhelmed her. Suddenly the need to relieve herself battled with the need to go back and play with the guys. She hadn't a clue as to why she felt like that. She just did.

She could just imagine what was going on in the room as she walked down the hallway towards the toilets. Something had to keep her away from the creepy creaking noises the floorboards made. If she had to guess she was probably missing the moment Naruto revealed all.

Boy, and to think she really wanted to see Naruto's pride and joy.

Ah well, she'd get to see it once she had returned. Suddenly her body shivered, that ominous feeling was back. Gently smacking her cheeks she reminded herself that she was a strong Kunoichi, not some wimpy damsel in distress.

Minutes later, she had fully relieved herself and was making her way back to the room. Only a problem had arisen for her. Mainly the fact that whatever door she had come though surely wasn't the same one she had left through.

The hall was different. Much, much different, it had what seemed like a red glow to it and it most certainly, last time she checked anyhow, didn't have at the end of it, a spiralling staircase going into and through the ceiling.

Her eyes widened in shock. A Genjutsu.

"Shit," She whispered, but who? Who on Earth would put her, a harmless girl, well a seemingly harmless girl in a Genjutsu, especially one of this magnitude. Having walked to the bottom of the staircase she had stared upwards only to come to the conclusion it was endless.

Peering around even the toilet door had gone. Whoever this foolish person was, they were messing with the wrong Kunoichi and the moment she knew who it was, she planned on beating them half way to hell, and then maybe back again depending on whether or not she liked the torture hell was giving them.

"Hello?" She called, she might as well try. The worse it could be was some rapist, and in hell would she damned before she let some ugly old guy get into her pants. Just the thought caused her to shudder.

Taking her chances with caution in mind, she followed the steps up, not knowing whether or not she had just signed her death certificate. The eerie silence was starting to creep her out, and as much as she'd rather find a way out standing where she was. She knew she'd have to confront whoever had done it. What worried her was that whoever had done it was probably standing right next to her in reality.

Finally reaching the top of the stairs she glanced around, it was so empty, only a chair facing a fireplace. _So _cliché she thought inwardly as she stamped down a little bit harder than necessary, making her presence known.

Undoubtedly whoever was sitting in that chair knew of her arrival as shuffling was heard before a smug, overly familiar voice spoke, his cold voice running throughout her entire body. Had she been Hinata, she was sure the shock would have caused her to drop in a dead faint,

"It's good to see you Sakura," The tears had already arrived, streaming down her confused face,

"Sasuke?" She asked timidly. All of her earlier threats out of the window.

"Who else wields such a powerful Genjutsu?" His voice was as sure as always. So calm, collected. It was almost as if he, Uchiha Sasuke was omniscient, omnipotent. To Sakura, it seemed like he was one step away from becoming a God.

"Why are you here Sasuke?" She asked, her confidence building. She was not, and let it be repeated not a wimpy damsel in distress.

"Che, not for you, you're here only for one reason," Sasuke had moved from his chair. She could feel his breathe on her face. He was behind her. Silently she remained motionless. If he wasn't here for her then who? Surely not Sai, or Naruto... Or was it Naruto? No wait the scroll,

"The scroll?" She asked,

"Not quite, more a person than an item," He answered. She could feel something pressing into her back. It was sharp. _Shit._

"Sasuke, then who?... Naruto?" A dark chuckle echoed from behind her, "Shit Sasuke it is! What do you want? Kyuubi? To late Kyuubi's-"

"I know, and I know exactly what's wrong with Naruto today, hence my plan is to take him today, I have big plans for him and I," Sasuke muttered. The sharp object pressed harder into her back. It was going to draw blood. She couldn't move. Dammit, she really couldn't move.

"Why tell me, when I escape, and I will, you'll never get to him in time, Sai and I will stop you," She answered, a coldness in her voice that wasn't there before told Sasuke that Sakura had begun to have feelings for Naruto,

"Hn, doubtful, you'll never escape," Sasuke laughed once more. A cold chuckle, an almost maddening chuckle, and Sakura screamed. The torture began. A minute might have passed for Naruto and Sai. Neither of whom knew of what was happening to her, but for Sakura a life time of pain before death consumed her.

The Genjutsu died as Sakura's real body fell to the floor, lifeless. Her screams had echoed down the hall. It was only a matter of seconds before the real reason Sasuke had appeared would make his heroic entrance.

A heroic entrance fit for a damsel in distress. Too bad Sakura wasn't no damsel.

- - -

Naruto heard the scream and instantly registered one thought in mind,

"Sakura!"

Sai too was on his feet and the pair stumbled out of the door, eyes wide and searching for the source of the scream. Inside, Naruto hoped with shame that it had not been Sakura,and if it had been her that she was, at least, alive and able to attack her pursuer.

There was no need to utilise stealth – for Naruto it would have been useless anyway for even though his Chakra was useless, there was a distinct taint to it that he wouldn't be able to mask – as there was a slumped form lying on the ground and someone who Naruto could recognise solely from his posture and walk; Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sa... suk...e..."

Sai looked up sharply and indicated for Naruto to step slightly beside. Naruto complied with his heartbeat pounding in his ears; five years and _nothing _of the man and suddenly he was here. What he didn't understand was why Sakura had screamed...sure it was Sasuke but he was nothing to faint over, right?"

Naruto looked ahead, eyes focused blankly on the approaching figure and the whirling pin wheels of the Sharingan. Something was different about those eyes and it wasn't just the fact that they lacked emotion.

Being in the ANBU had presented new challenges to Naruto yet one thing he had always sworn on before a mission was that he would retain his humanity. Sakura had once said to him that his eyes betrayed how emotional he really was and Naruto found this to be a compliment rather than an insult; it didn't make him easy to read; just showed the world that there was a human inside the body of a demon.

It was a cold fact that Sasuke had changed, Naruto knew that, and he could only hope that Sasuke hadn't been tainted by so much blood that he had lost sight of the clear waters Naruto always wished to bring him to.

Naruto's pulse beat loudly as Sai stepped forwards, pulling out a Kunai from his trouser pocket. It was then that Naruto was aware how defenceless he was; not only did he carry no weapons but his clothing had been taken from him... willingly but still.

Sai moved lightly, much like a cat would do before it pounced. Sasuke, on the other hand, trod heavily with guarded footfalls, making sure that he commanded attention yet carrying it off with unnatural ease. The Uzumaki suspected that it was one of the many things the man had learnt during his time at Orochimaru's and he gave an involuntary shudder.

The two dark haired men met in a clash of steel and lightning. Sai rolled over to the side as he dropped rapidly after his Kunai had been sliced by the chidori enhanced Kusanagi sword. Sasuke looked down at the crouching man apathetically before moving a leg out to kick him in the side.

Of course Sai caught the leg but he did not anticipate that Sasuke would fall back onto his right hand, twist and follow through with his free leg to Sai's neck. This not only resulted in him letting go of the Uchiha's leg but also ensured that the man slid a far distance away from where he had been previously.

"Uchiha..." he spluttered as his chest heaved up a small amount of blood. Sai knew then that Sasuke had an aim to this fight; either kill or disable the former ROOT ANBU. Yet Sai wasn't one to squander time and he summoned his spare drawing utensils. Out from the paper leapt snarling tigers yet each was stopped by the whirling Sharingan. It appeared that Sasuke had finally run of patience.

Sai hopped backwards, hands forming what he hoped would provide a cover. It was a jutsu specifically designed to turn the area dark and hazy yet would it work on someone who used the Sharingan? Sai completed the jutsu and the air around them grew heavier until it practically crushed Sai's lungs... and then it was lifted and they were thrown into darkness.

Sai realised that – no – it didn't work on the Sharingan when glowing eyes turned to him and a punch sent him reeling backwards, head cracking against the wall and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Naruto looked around the inky darkness and flinched as he heard a crack. That had to be Sai – Sasuke's Sharingan saw through everything. He hated being weak and powerless when his friends were being hurt yet there was little more Naruto could do.

Instead he ran forwards blindly, searching for Sakura's form in the darkness. She had to be alive but why wasn't she calling out to him? She should have woken up and wondered why it was so dark... unless...

Naruto tripped and stifled a scream as he came face to face with Sakura's glazed eyes. He could feel tears seep from the corners of his eye lids as he lifted a hand to her shoulder,

"S-sakura-chan..."

Naruto retracted his hand as though he had been stung when the realisation finally came; she hadn't feinted, she hadn't woken up; she was dead.

Naruto was so absorbed by that notion that he failed to hear the footsteps that had sounded closer and closer; the footsteps that were the entry of the Devil's Adonis.

"Sasuke... who... please tell me it wasn't – and... oh god, Sai! Sasuke you-"

Naruto was silenced as a hand pulled him up roughly and his weight was slammed into the wall.

"I killed her Naruto and I want you to know why." Naruto tried not to look into the rotten eyes of his former team member and winced as Sasuke traced a hand up his neck whilst smirking, "it's because of you."

Sasuke stepped away and the Sharingan whirled.

"It's all for you, Naruto."

- - -

Tsunade glanced over her huge pile of forms to fill in. Not once did she think to burn them and say they got lost in the mail, but three times, especially the times when Shizune thought it fun to bring in another couple of forms.

Sighing heavily she remembered why she even took the job. The one little blue eyed, blond haired boy that had impressed her so much. Uzumaki Naruto, not once did that boy give up. In fact Tsunade had yet to see the boy give up, what had it been five years since she'd taken up the Hokage's seat.

She held in a chuckle as she stood up. Naruto really never stopped ceasing to amaze her. How he had the spirit and energy to carry on was beyond him. It was a miracle really. Heading towards her precious storage of sake she reached in to grab some.

On her way back to her office, she took note of her surroundings. Only something caught her eye. Now normally, favouritism was not allowed within the Konoha higher ups, but if those elders were allowed to favour Sasuke than she was allowed to favour Naruto.

The picture she had of the boy sitting on her desk had fallen to the floor.

It wasn't just of a picture Naruto though, The rest of team seven, minus Sasuke, that particular member had been replaced by a similar looking boy named Sai, were standing behind Naruto, each with their unique smiles.

Picking up, a shiver went through her system. The part of the picture that held Naruto on it, had ripped in two, the glass had shattered over the floor, and the picture of Sakura... well let's just say Tsunade had already called in Shizune.

Suddenly she had a rather bad feeling about the trio.

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**Frosty** here, we appreciate reviews and hope you enjoyed this. She would also like to note that bugs have infested her room and are extremely annoying her T.T. Also she would like to point out that anything that seems OOC can be contributed to their age. The way the Manga is going despite this being a completely alternate time line and the fact that neither Imperial Mint nor Frosty are Kishimoto and this is how they predict their future personalities will turn out. We dislike OOC just as much as the next guy.

**Mint has her bit to say too!  
**Howdy. Guess what... I'm going to Disney! Whoot! I just thought I'd make you all jealous by that. I'm open to gift requests...

Shameless advertising: We have other fics on our solo accounts please go check the out if you like LxLight, SasuNaru, and ItaNaru. Thank you.

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	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Neither xXxFrostyIceCubexXx nor Imperial Mint own the Animé/Manga series 'Naruto'

**Title**: Avoidance at a cost

**Pairing:** (Primary) ItaNaru (Secondary/One sided) SasuNaru

**Notice: **This is Yaoi, and will most definitely contain adult situations and some things that others may not be fond of, so please be forewarned before reading this story. Character death(Sakura) in prologue.

**Summary:** For Naruto life was simple, eat Ramen, train and become Hokage, that was until he had to suffer decreased Chakra levels, Sasuke stalking him, and falling in love with the one person he shouldn't; Itachi.

This a collaboration fiction between xXxFrostyIceCubexXx and Imperial Mint

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Chapter One

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Naruto knew what was coming yet his eyes still glanced into Sasuke's. It was almost like an automatic reaction. He couldn't stop himself. The need to see the one he hadn't seen in years overwhelmed him and he knew the moment he looked into those blood red eyes that he had more than likely just signed his death sentence.

Sasuke watched with mirth as Naruto's eyes locked onto his own. Naruto was still that stupid dobe he knew back from their Genin days and, truth be told, he'd never have it any other way. He watched as Naruto's eyes took on a glazed look.

The result of his Sharingan and Naruto's stupidity.

The boy began to sway back and forth slightly until the his back hit the wall and Naruto found himself sliding down it, not that he knew he was sliding down it. He was too lost in that fading light in front of him, the last of his consciousness. Words tried their best to leave his lips as his eyes slowly closed, only one word made it,

"Bastard," Sasuke smirked, it was definitely Naruto, that rude little boy that wanted nothing more than care and attention, oh Sasuke planned on giving him both, and thoroughly at that.

Stepping forward, he knelt down and scooped up his little prize, laying the boy's head on his shoulder. It was almost scary, the way Sasuke seemed to covet Naruto. It was borderline obsessive possession.

Looking back at things, Sasuke smugly glanced down at his former fan girl. All those years of imagining her painful demise and finally he was able to give it to her. Oh how happy he felt that he was the one able to give the girl the death she deserved. Well in his mindset at least.

Glancing down once more, his eyes crossed Sai; that replacement of his. How many times had Sai been called Sasuke's look-a-like? It was so common that even those in Otogakure had asked Sasuke whether he was actual Sasuke and not Sai posing.

It was overused.

He knew he should kill Sai, but it was more fun this way, letting Konoha know that he had Naruto, that they literally sent Naruto into Sasuke's eagerly awaiting arms. It made him want to laugh but, no, he couldn't enjoy his victory yet.

Sure he might have been going insane, but he had yet to be certificated as insane. His little remaining sanity made him keep his promises and of course he had a young lady to return to her father, as long as Suigetsu hadn't done anything to the poor girl.

Sasuke sighed before disappearing with Naruto in hand.

- - -

Suigetsu had been waiting for Sasuke for a while now and he was becoming impatient. This hostage they had taken was a feisty one all right. She had nearly taken a chunk out of his hand when he picked her up.

Damn and she was a pretty one as well. Admittedly not so much with that scratch down her face. He had warned her that if she didn't calm down then she'd get hurt. And of course she ended up tripping up.

Due to Sasuke's orders he had only bound her arms, blindfolded her and gagged her. What a fat lot of good that did, she still was as loud as any Konoha shinobi and thanks to her screams she was now sleeping in a heap on the unsteady bed.

A small smack to the floor echoed in the room causing Suigetsu to grin. Finally they could drop that annoying female off and get back to Otogakure. He still didn't know why Sasuke had gone through the trouble of orchestrating this whole thing for one person.

Sasuke had a flare for dramatics he supposed. Oh well.

He watched, impressed as his 'leader' walked into the room. The whole reason for everything sleeping peacefully in the teenager's arms. Blond hair ruffled, mixed with Sasuke's dark hair. It was surely a strange sight.

Like Naruto was the damsel and Sasuke was the saviour. Oh how wrong the picture looked. He smirked, his smirk deep and cold, not unlike Sasuke's. Though Suigetsu's held more of a mocking air to it.

"Are we done now? Did you clean up your mess?" Suigetsu asked, it was procedure to clean up after one's self. That was how he was raised within the deep experimental centres of Orochimaru's lairs. God how Suigetsu hated those times.

"Yes, and no, now grab the girl, we'll drop her off and be on our way," His reply was plain, impassive. Bored almost. Sasuke had what he wanted and he wanted to get straight onto his main plan.

"But?"

"No buts, now let's go," Sasuke's answer was final. Suigetsu shrugged, what Sasuke did wasn't for him to worry about, Sasuke normally always had a plan anyhow. Suigetsu nodded.

With Suigetsu holding the still unconscious female hostage and Sasuke clutching Naruto. The pair left where they were hiding out. Scarily as they looked back, one would have noticed. It was the exact same hotel in which the Konoha trio had been sent to.

- - -

They had been walking for a while until Sasuke turned down an alley and up into the back entrances of the main street buildings. Without any announcement and without taking his shoes off, Sasuke walked through the home alongside Suigetsu.

"Yoshiro," he called out into the darkness of the place and a scrambling noise could be heard as the man appeared round the corner, face dropping in relief and then tightening up again as he took in the state of his daughter and Naruto cradled in Sasuke's arms.

"W-what have you done to them?"

Sasuke's eyes flickered red as he answered,

"Do you really need to know that? So much that it would cost your life?" Suigetsu smirked as the man shook his head violently and dropped to his knees,the caps clicking under the pressure exerted to them.

"Forgive me Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke gestured for Suigetsu to unload the female onto the ground and he did just that – unload her unceremoniously. It wasn't that Suigetsu hated _her _but it was more the fact that he didn't have any qualms with disrespecting members of his species.

All in all, Suigetsu thought that humans were pretty disgusting; the way that half of them swore to peace and then stabbed their closest friend in the back. Every human was selfish and Suigetsu saw past the petty smiles and fake courtesy.

Basically, Suigetsu was interested in self preservation and if he had to adopt the 'fuck everything' attitude then so be it.

A cry of hidden joy sounded as the man – Yoshiro – moved to his daughters side and checked her basic needs; breathing and a beating heart. Finding both, Yoshiro looked back up at Sasuke and spoke quietly.

"Thank you, Sasuke-sama. Will the boy be safe?"

Sasuke frowned when the man called his Naruto a boy, after all Naruto was a man now. A man that only Sasuke could lay claim to, someone who Sasuke craved for a needed because Uchiha Sasuke always got what he wanted. There was something special about Naruto and no boy could pull that off.

"It is irrelevant. Suigetsu," he called to the man and turned around, leaving the man's home.

"What about the others?"

Sasuke made no motion as to whether he heard the statement or not and carried on walking. Suigetsu looked back at the man's guilty and sullen face once before sneering and following his self proclaimed leader.

"Where are you taking him?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment before he replied,

"I've decided to take him to Orochimaru's former base lab. I'll have Kabuto to assist me there and as it's at the heart of the village, my village, it will be easy to keep an eye on both things at the same time."

Suigetsu nodded towards Naruto's body,

"Won't you get tired doing that?"

Sharingan flickered to meet grey eyes and Suigetsu's smirk fell from his face. Sasuke could be piss worthingly scary when he wanted to be.

" Uchiha's do not _get _tired."

And that was that, case closed and bound shut. They walked on in silence, Suigetsu every now and again glancing at the blond man's arm as it hung over Sasuke's forearm and swung in time to the Uchiha's steps, much like a rope would hang in the gallows.

Though Suigetsu didn't know exactly why Naruto was so special – after all, the Kyuubi couldn't be extracted by them, that was the Akatsuki's forté after all – yet Sasuke insisted that it _had _to be the Uzumaki kid, no matter what.

But then again, maybe that was just Sasuke.

- - -

Sasuke hummed for a moment, sure he had everything planned but once everything was set in motion he couldn't exactly keep Naruto stuck under a Genjutsu. Not only would that harm Naruto, but it'd also cause harm to Sasuke.

Sasuke couldn't let that happen. He still had to kill his brother after all.

An hour, maybe more, had passed since Suigetsu and he had returned to their base. Naruto was safely tucked away in Sasuke's locked room, more than likely hidden under a bunch of blankets snoring quietly to himself.

Sasuke himself at that moment was heading towards what could have been considered the 'living room' of the base. It may not have had the whole big screen television and comfy sofa's, but it was suitable for a game of sorts or something small.

He could already hear the chatter of his team mates as he made his way inside, their doubts about their master's sanity reached his ears. As angry as it made him, it also made him quite amused. They knew nothing about the situation, how dare they judge him.

His light breathing noted the rest of Hebi to his presence, their chatter immediately ceased. He smirked, quite obviously they were scared of angering him and it made him feel all the more special regarding his strength.

"Sasuke, Um, Sama-" Karin began, only to be halted by Sasuke himself. He had no desire to be swarmed by Karin's futile attempts to get him to date her, she was pathetically annoying. She was so similar to Sakura when he was still in Konoha it was sickening.

"You wish to know my plans?" He answered, no need for them to waste their useless breathe on such simple, obvious questions. Their interested looks told him that that was exactly what they wanted to know. Though none of them thought he'd tell them.

Sasuke was unique that way. The mysterious avenger. The one full of anger, so full of revenge.

"Fine" He continued to say. It was simplicity, if they wanted to know so bad, then they should have asked. It was no secret that he needed to keep, so telling them could only enhance their need to stop pestering him about keeping Naruto there later on.

He knew they didn't want Naruto there. He didn't care. They knew he wanted Naruto for something and would they rather spend eternity in hell than let Sasuke know of their need to go against his decision. Hypocrisy is a must when it comes to minds that no nothing of each other.

" Naruto is one of Orochimaru's experiments-" Sasuke couldn't help, but smirk as Suigetsu's sword fell heavily to the floor and Karin starting gaping, per usual Juugo just stood there, "- He is one of the earlier experiments and having found his files, let's just say that he will bare my heir,"

The smug look on Sasuke's face was more than likely misplaced. There was no way in hell Sasuke would be so smug about creating a child with the one he deemed as his rival and the one he wanted to kill so badly,

"What... How... Why?" Karin had spoken, anger and jealously towards Naruto dripping venomously from her words. Confusion and something indescribable towards Sasuke, "Are you going mad Sasuke Sama? I can provide an heir for you! He's a boy, and a scrawny little freak at that, why choose him over me?" Sasuke barked out a laugh,

"Karin, listen to me, if he is able to bare children, just think of the power they will hold! I only want Naruto, and whether or not you can handle that is up to you," Karin looked lost, no she looked beyond lost.

"I still don't understand," She said finally. Sasuke sighed, why couldn't she be male, or at least more like Juugo and Suigetsu. Juugo being a simpleton until provoked was just setting up a game of cards, while Suigetsu had cleverly disguised his shock and having accepted Sasuke's brief explanation, resolved to play cards with Juugo.

Though impregnating Naruto. How, how very different.

"Well it is simple. Orochimaru, having once held Naruto with him, experimented on him. With the Kyuubi inside of him, the experiments were only made easier,"

"Wait, but, but how do you know he can get pregnant?"

"He was pregnant before, they killed the thing before it was born," Karin's jaw dropped open in surprise. Sure she was cruel, but an innocent unborn baby? Karin, being a women, surely understood the innate drive a women feels towards children and she immediately felt a wave of sympathy for Naruto, until the wave crashed and left only a burning hatred,

"As sad as that is Sasuke Sama, I still don't like you using him, he's just too unpredictable, I mean once the night is up and he awakens his Chakra will spike back up and he could just be that uncontrollable," Karin tried to reason,

"Are you really questioning me Karin? Are you really that dumb as to think I haven't thought that far ahead?" Karin looked confused at that moment, torn between her desire to have Sasuke see sense and her desire to not receive punishment due to insubordination.

"No Sasuke Sama," He glanced around, looking for any other signs of opposition. No one cared. What Sasuke did, was Sasuke's business in their eyes.

Sasuke smirked at their obedience. He liked obedience. Naruto would soon be very obedient.

- - -

There was a constant beat around him, a low hum that sounded deeply; a low in and out pulse accompanied by a _dah-dunk._ Both sounds were irregular and that was wrong, something inside of him knew that they shouldn't be irregular but that thought was cancelled out when something welled through his body.

_Darknessnothingbutdarknesscolddarknesslaugherdarkness_

A flash of a golden eye in the darkness was all it took for blue eyes to snap open and Naruto woke, lungs gasping and his heart increasing in beats. His hazy mind registered that he was covered in blankets yet they weren't enough to rid him of the cold against his skin.

Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he continued to gulp in air into his starved lungs and he looked around the room wildly, eyes wide and nostrils flaring. He was like an animal, a wild animal that had been caught in a trap.

And, in essence, that was what this was; Naruto was caught in a trap and he could do nothing about it. The only coherent thought that ran through his head was the thought of those golden eyes, slitted pupils and pale skin. That thought scared him beyond belief and his hands shook, jingling something as they did.

It was the jingling that brought Naruto from his mind and his eyes slowly focused on the metal chain, hidden beneath the blankets. He wondered suddenly why he was chained to a bed, a bed that clearly wasn't his. He hadn't seen blankets this fancy since…

Since when? Naruto knew he had seen them once before, once when he was younger, but when? Each time he tried to think of it, his mind drew a blank. It was as if there was something there that shouldn't be; something wrong and unwanted.

The air was thick with two smells; one he knew instantly and the other continued to draw a blank. The one he recognised was fresh, new and very much alive. That man with red eyes had to have been here and Naruto briefly remembered red eyes at a hotel, falling down next to glazed green eyes and dark eyes closing slowly as the owner was knocked into unconsciousness. The rest of the memory slipped away and Naruto stared back at the chain.

What was it connecting him to? Or rather who? The second smell had something to do with it and the hellish golden eye flashed once again into his head. Naruto screwed up his eyes and curled into a tight ball, not unlike the foetal position.

He dozed lightly, lulled into a semi state of sleep by his irregular breathing and _dah-dunk _heart beat. If Naruto had wanted to, he guessed that he could have sorted out his breathing pattern but there didn't seem to be much point anymore, why should he attempt something that would cause effort and make his head draw up more blanks than just lie in the darkness?

Flashes of a memory, much like a film when fast forwarded, flashed through Naruto's head and he remembered a pale man offering his hand, golden eyes glinting at the prospect of having the Naruto kid. The next flash saw the same man teaching the child – a blond haired boy – how to hold a kunai and a few other techniques. The golden eyes looked past the child and Naruto opened his own eyes as he felt the orbs stare into his soul.

He remembered a time when they had done that before, he had been chained then too but why or what happened next, he couldn't recall.

The flight instinct kicked in then and he sprang onto crouched legs, forgetting the chain entirely. His arm was tugged viciously and a cry of pain escaped from his mouth as Naruto jumped, or at least tried to, from the bed. His legs cut out and he fell into the mattress and the pain jolted through his body. His body, his human body, wasn't made for this kind of pain and Naruto was sure that he had pulled the arm from its socket.

Warmth travelled up his arm and blue eyes focused on the limp arm as it shifted of its own accord, clicking back into place. He knew that any other person would have been scared of such a feat – for he knew he had had no control over that action – yet the captive found it strangely comforting. It was a familiar act, an act that he was glad to have happened upon him.

A red eye, so similar to the red eyes that Naruto remembered and the golden eye, flashed into his mind yet it was not in fury. The red eye was almost sympathetic and a hum covered Naruto's body as he recalled the name – the first name he had recalled since being in this darkness - Kyuubi no Kitsune.

If Naruto had expected a rush of memories to flood over him, he would have been sorely disappointed. Instead, other names trickled out but he hadn't matched them to the eyes. Could the green eyes, the dead green eyes, have belonged to this Tsunade? Or did they belong to the person who was called Kakashi?

Naruto's eyes had finally adjusted to the dark and he could make out… nothing. There was nothing but darkness in this room and it both comforted and scared Naruto. He remembered a time, however hazy the memory was, when the darkness had clothed him in inky black. He was drawn back to the memory of the film and a flash engulfed him.

There was nothing but darkness this time, that and the heavy sound of breathing over him. Once more, his hands were chained but they were chained so they could not move at all. Naruto could see and feel something over the child's – his – eyes and his mind supplied the word; blindfold.

"W-why?"

The voice was full of betrayal and Naruto realised that not only had the child's mouth moved, but the older Naruto's had as well. The two of them, Naruto-child and Naruto-teen, were running through the experience at the same time and the Naruto-teen realised, with a sickening thud that this was a _memory_ and not a film at all.

"I need to do this to clarify the changes I made to you, Naruto-kun."

The child's body shuddered as he felt the cool touched of the man as he strapped the human body to the table further. There was no struggling, even with the skills that the man – the deceptively kind man – had taught him. _Academy basics_, the man had said. Naruto-teen recalled this man was the reason he hadn't been in the Shinobi Academy for the first few years, not that anyone knew that. Naruto realised then that he hadn't even known it until now.

Both Narutos felt a needle cut into the junction between upper and lower arm and the Naruto-teen curled up into a ball, an action the Naruto-child had no hope of achieving, being strapped down in that way. The child's eyes took in a small medical vial that contained a white substance and a long needle. The liquid that the man had injected into his arm took effect and the world fuzzed before their eyes.

As golden eyes drew closer, both in the darkness and the memory, the Narutos screwed their eyes tightly, one slipping under the influence of the anaesthetic and the other overwhelmed by memories.

- - -

The dark fog in his mind was slowly travelling away. With his mind becoming clearer, memories of what had just occurred to him flooded back. Suddenly his body reacted to a particular memory, the one of Sasuke stamping down on him.

Rolling sidewards he jumped upwards. He was alone. How long had he been unconscious for? Light had begun to sink in through the cracks. Where were the windows? Nowhere; the cracks where in the ceiling.

Uncharacteristically he gulped. Glancing around he took in his surroundings. Where was everyone? He was so confused. What was the last thing he remembered. Oh yes it was Sasuke and Naruto.

Oh God, Naruto!

Eyes scanned the hallways rapidly, hoping to catch a glimpse of what he knew wasn't there. He knew Naruto was weak, he was meant to protect Naruto. He had sworn to Tsunade before they left that he would.

Where was Sakura?

His eyes followed the floor. His heartbeat raised. Sasuke wouldn't have taken her too would he? After all the time he spent avoiding and trying to kill his former team, he wouldn't just swoop in to kidnap them both would he?

No. Impossible.

His eyes widened, a breathed in a sigh of relief that was never let out. He could see Sakura's body, but something was wrong. Wait, flashes were occurring. Now he remembered. _Shit Sakura!_ He wanted to speak, to cry out, to do something.

All he could do was sink to the floor beside her. He hoped, no prayed to god, that she was still alive, that by some miracle she was still alive. That she, being the medical genius she was, had saved herself. Caused herself to fall into what would be a fake death.

He shook her cold body. His hands ghosted over her pockets and holding areas, maybe an antidote to whatever she had done was hidden on her person. She had to be alive, after everything they had been through together, she just had to be alive.

He refused to believe she was dead. He refused to believe that only hours ago, if it was only hours ago, that they had just been playing poker only for it to lead to this chaotic mess.

Nothing. He couldn't find anything. Could she really... could she possibly be really dead and not faking it? No that was impossible. This was Sakura. This was that abnormally strong girl that had one more than one occasion sent him flying through a wall or two for his rude, perverted insults, despite the fact he was obviously stronger.

"Sakura? Wake up Sakura? Come on we have to save Naruto!" He shook her body urgently. His response was some of her belongs falling onto the floor. Kunai fell by her side. He pushed them away and did something he never thought he'd do.

He cradled her body.

"Come on Sakura, seriously Naruto needs us wake up, come on, do you really need me to insult you? Come on!" He shook her gently. Tears never fell from his eyes. He wasn't the type to cry. It wasn't allowed during his old training and, despite learning so much, he still had yet to learn to be more emotional.

Putting his head to Sakura's he thought of everything. Tsunade could fix this right? Tsunade was a legendary Sannin, she could bring back the dead right?

What was Sai thinking. There was no way in which to bring back the dead without severe consequences. He knew what he had to do. This was Sasuke's fault.

Everything that had happened was Sasuke's fault.

He knew what he had to do, he'd take Sakura's body, he'd hold a funeral for the girl. And then, and then, Sasuke would pay. Come tomorrow, Naruto's Chakra should have begun to rise. Unless tomorrow was today, in which Sasuke would have one hell of a surprise.

He was going to take revenge. Sasuke was going to pay. He was going to rescue Naruto and Sasuke was going to die. Sai didn't care how he'd manage it, he'd rip the boy's eyes out should he need to.

But first... wait what was that? Something was closing in on him? What was it, multiple Chakra signatures, who could it be? Was it Sasuke returning? No it couldn't be... could it?

Sai had half a mind to hide Sakura and plan an attack but he didn't know who it was and as evident from Sasuke's previous encounter with them Sai probably would have been better of just laying down playing dead.

That's if it was even Sasuke.

The Chakra signatures were a fair few, and some of them were rather scary, but they were familiar. Yet he couldn't place who it was. He didn't know whether to flare up his own Chakra. Would it really be safe to flare it?

He really hadn't a clue as to what to do. Never before had he been put in such a confusion position. He just hoped whoever was heading straight towards him, wasn't his enemy.

- - -

In the overwhelmed slumber, Naruto recognised the smell that belonged to the red eyed man. Only half-realising it, he opened his eyes to look at the man. He didn't see the red eyed man through, all he saw was a figure taller than the dark haired Uchiha, someone with long hair, golden eyes and a vicious smirk. He remembered that look; it was the look that had let Naruto know that whatever experiment had taken place went well and his plans were successful.

Though Naruto knew that this particular face meant that the experiment had been on _him_, yet he couldn't remember anything except the memory of the child strapped down to an operating table.

"…ruto. Naruto. Dobe."

Naruto's blue eyes focused on the morphing image of the golden eyed man and, at the word 'dobe', his attention snapped and Sasuke returned.

Noticing something registering in Naruto's eyes, Sasuke continued.

"Do you know where you are?"

Naruto's brain registered the question yet nothing came to his lips. Instead, he shook his head. Sasuke appeared pleased at that answer and he leant over Naruto, placing one hand next to the blonde's shoulder so he was, in effect, pinning the male to the bed.

"Look at me Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened and for a horrible moment, all he could see was the mocking pale face with golden eyes. He lashed out with his legs, kicking the off guard man above him. An arm quickly followed yet it was caught by Sasuke's free arm.

Instead of giving up – which, most likely, would have been the smartest thing to do at this point – Naruto bit the arm next to him, managing to draw blood. The arm next to him shot upwards and Naruto rolled out of the way, his legs scrabbling as the image of himself as a child played over and over in his mind.

Naruto's neck clicked from the force that Sasuke's punch had upon his cheek. He continued on his roll, his arm once more clicking out of the socket. A bark escaped his mouth and he lay on the floor, staring at the carpeted ground as Sasuke's shadow loomed over him.

"I thought you would have been used to playing the obedient pet Naruto? Orochimaru had you trained from an early age, didn't he? Not that he ever took you in the way I will, he couldn't do it the way I will. I believe it was an artificial insemination that he used for that time."

Naruto's eyes snapped up at that phrase, he remembered his face as a child and the vial of white substance, the sp-

"Fuck _you!_"

Sasuke chuckled and knelt over Naruto and pinned him down once again,

"You really don't get it, do you?" He drew himself up to his full height and Naruto looked at him with hatred seeping from every pore in his body. He had used up a lot of energy when his adrenaline filled body hit out at Sasuke and there was now nothing he could do.

"If you won't be obedient to me, Naruto, then I'll just have to force it into you. Orochimaru's gone and I took everything from him, you included."

Sasuke's eyes flickered red and Naruto's breath hitched.

"W-why?"

It was so similar to the memory that Naruto flinched as the smirk overtook Sasuke's features. Whatever was about to come, he could be certain that it wouldn't be nice.

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**Imperial Mint: **

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Its nice to get reviews, no matter how small. So thanks again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and... see you in the next one I guess! (And I just figured out how to do the horizontal breakers!! Heh :D )

**The other authoress XD**

Well you see this is taking forever because i am stupid and yeah it's my section i'm on and yeah blame me!! Please review!

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